I celebrate my sensibleness

I almost bought something today. It was a styling set with 3 different ConAir brushes, a wide tooth comb, a pair of flat hair clips, a pair of crocodile jaw clips, some hairties and a cheap plastic vanity mirror -- all in an attractive millenium metallic blue. When I saw it, I felt like I just needed to try out the different types of brushes: the round spiked mace looking one; the flat, oval based, shaped for spanking one and something that was in between.

My mind started ticking away the moment I laid my eyes on it.

"I could use the wide tooth comb for after I've washed my hair. I'm already losing enough hair from lack of sleep. Not gonna lose more to a brush"

"Those hair clips are too chunky. The matte color won't look good on my hair either. Will have to write those off"

"Hmm, the jaws hairclips look kinda cute. But too big/ugly to wear out of the house. Might not even be comfortable wearing in the house. NEXT!!!"

"Elastic hairties. Could always use more of those. Wonder if they are ouchless. Hate it when I pull my hair removing elastics."

"The metallic blue is just so irresistable"

"Well, it's only $7.99... This could be my Christmas present. Nevermind the fact that I never care about nor have XMas presents"

So I hung on to the box and it's ribbon trimmings. Until darling commented, "Hey, it's made in China" Well most things in the US are made in China so there's no reason to balk at that comment but I did. Images of the crudely made souvenirs and jade passing off as "genuine oriental flavor" in Chinatown popped up. Somehow the matte metallic blue looked tacky and it failed the "Would I bring this home (aka Singapore/Malaysia)" test. In fact, it would be one of those things that get junked without third thought (second thoughts might be about how I've only used this for 6 months) One of the good things about moving around is that you're forced to keep only things you really value. And since there are no room for junk, it's good motivation to curb impulse buys. Like this one.

So in the end, I put the box down. I instantly felt great for not frivolously spending the money. You know when you buy something you really like, you feel happier as time passes by as you validate your purchase. In a similar manner, I'm feeling darn good right now for NOT purchasing it.

For the past month, I've been basking in the afterglow of my various purchases only to find out today that I can derive the same amount of pleasure from abstaining. Interesting.

However, I'm still somewhat miffed at the less than pristine reputation that sensibleness has. People have the impression that being sensible equates to being boring. If I think smoking is disgusting/ irresponsible/ reprehensible, am I being boring by not doing it? Would doing something I obviously do not want to do make me an interesting person? If there was something I truly, really wanted to do and I didn't do it because I thought it was "sensible", I'd be pretty stupid. In many cases, people think of being sensible as doing things that they think other people think is right. That I believe is trying to exonerate yourself from the responsibility of making the decision, blaming it on an external factor like the virtual societal pressure. To me, being sensible is about doing things my way, the way that makes sense,both logically and emotionally.